Women in Property & Construction Ireland hosted the first breakfast briefing on the 9th May at 1 Windmill Lane, a beautiful building full of history, with a 150 attendees networking which was followed by two-panel discussions from industry leaders. The event, which was sponsored by Jones Engineering Group was attended by women from all areas of the construction and property sector.
At the start of the event we enjoyed a light breakfast and at this moment everyone could meet each other and lots of great networking & intros were made.
The first panel, moderated by Valerie O’Keeffe of Clarity VP, discussed the unique design of 1 Windmill Lane, with Mark O’Shea, Contracts Manager at John Paul Construction taking the room through the planning and construction challenges involved. Ela Walkowiak, Senior Interior Designer at MOLA Architecture discussed the concept behind the design and Nellie Reid, Managing Director, Meehan Green, discussing the process behind 1 Windmill Lane’s Gold LEED certification. The expert panel also included Edwina Governey, Senior Investment Manager, Hibernia REIT, which developed and own 1 Windmill Lane.
The second-panel discussion looked at the likely impacts on the construction and property sector of the Irish governments National Development Plan 2018-2027, along with the challenges and opportunities that it will bring to the construction and property sectors. Aíne Myler, Director General of the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland reflected on the mistakes made by successive government through lack of investment in infrastructure during a period of time when unemployment was high and prices were falling.
Caroline Spillane, Director General, of Engineers Ireland, other panelists spoke about the population growth and how Ireland has to change the way it plans the growth of the building and planned environment.
Jeanette Mair, Economic and Policy Research Executive at the Construction Industry Federation(CIF) said that the supply chain of skills in the construction industry is becoming ever more complex and diverse.
In conclusion, it was a fantastic day for us – C+W O’Brien Architects – Our warmest thanks to Valerie O’Keeffe and Hayley Rock for being able to host this event and for allowing us to be present.
We are already looking forward to the Women in Property and Construction Ireland next year and for more events with a unique networking like this one.